Pro: Twitter Needs To Be Run Like A Media Company

When President-elect Donald Trump tweets, the world listens. So, why is it that Twitter Inc TWTR's stock isn't benefiting from the free publicity courtesy of the almost daily tweets from the soon-to-be arguably most powerful person in the world.

Eric Hippeau of Lerer Hippeau Ventures was a guest on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday to offer his take on what Twitter is doing wrong.

According to Hippeau, Trump is embracing Twitter's platform to bypass the traditional media. Accordingly, Twitter's management team should accept the fact that it has evolved from a technology company to a major media platform and start running the business as a media company.

On the other hand, Hippeau argued that a true technology company doesn't want to embrace the change to a media company and wants to remain a technology company.

As a member of Yahoo! Inc. YHOO's board, Hippeau saw the same scenario play out when Yahoo subtly evolved to become a media company but didn't embrace the new business direction, which partially led to its demise.

So, Now What?

CNBC's co-host Joe Kernen asked if Twitter is in a position to charge users as a way to monetize its platform in a similar way that other news service providers offer subscriptions.

BuzzFeed's Alex Kantrowitz, also a guest on the segment, jumped in and argued that nobody is going to pay for Twitter as much as the company would like to charge.

He continued that as soon as Trump sends out a new Tweet, traditional media sources are quick to aggregate the Tweet and provide some additional context. Doing so actually delivers more value to the media's subscribers than what Twitter can provide on its own.

Kantrowitz wrote in a BuzzFeed report in late December 2016 that Twitter would be smart to embrace its new role within the media landscape.

"For Twitter, a definitive move into media at a time when larger rivals like Facebook dance and prevaricate around it, could be a savvy tactical decision," he wrote. "Twitter's real-time nature makes it a great platform for breaking news funneled into it by others. In Moments, the company is developing crucial institutional knowledge around news curation. And then there are those ongoing premium live video efforts. If Twitter were to elegantly unite all of that, if it were to fully embrace its 'media company' side, it might gain something it's long lacked: an identity."

Maybe Twitter Is Waking Up To Its New Role

Andy Swan, the CEO of social media data company LikeFolio, was a guest on Benzinga's PreMarket Prep Wednesday and offered his take on Twitter's identity as a technology and media company.

Swan said that he personally loves Twitter as it represents a fantastic platform for individuals to not only express themselves but to establish an identity online.

As such, Swan also views Twitter more as a media company than a social network. He added that Twitter's management team is also beginning to think of themselves in a similar fashion, which is a positive sign.

Perhaps Swan is on to something, as Twitter announced on Thursday a new partnership to live stream more than 70 hours of PGA tournaments across 31 tournaments throughout the remainder of the 2016–2017 season.

The new announcement merely adds to Twitter's growing portfolio of live sports broadcasts, including NFL matches, video game tournaments and tennis' Wimbledon. Outside of sports, the platform also live streamed the U.S. presidential debates.

The big question that remains is how Twitter will monetize itself as a media company. While there may not be an immediate solution, Swan believes Twitter can leverage its massive size and trove of data and information to figure out how to monetize the platform in the future.

However, he did acknowledge that "the jury is still out on that one."